Managing Mischief
by mariko-chan
Summary: The Marauders took an oath: We Solemnly Swear we are up to no good. This is the story from when they first met to where they are now. Eventual Sirius/Remus romance
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: All characters are property of J.K Rowling. I own not a thing but my own words, so please don't sue me.  
  
Author's Note: This is the first extremely long on-going fic I've written and definitely the first Harry Potter fic I've actually had the guts to post. Yes, I do actually write something besides Aragorn/Legolas Lord of the Rings fics. It's amazing isn't it? Anyway, this is merely the first chapter of this fic. It will cover all 7 of the Marauders' years at Hogwarts and possibly some of their current ones. Focus mainly on Remus, Sirius, and James while he's alive. Remus and Sirius when he's gone. And yes, I will write Remus/Sirius romance. Romance not sex got it? Good. And that won't come until much later, so if you don't like that sort of thing, you're safe reading this for a while. Or you could just high tail it out of here. Quickly. All flames can be directed at Suzaku, my kami. Oh wait, Legolas is still pinning him to the wall. Nevermind. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A train whistle sounded shrilly above the din of Platform 9 3/4. The feeble beams of early dawn filtered through the station to cast a faint glow of light on the unusual crowd that shifted and moved in many colored waves. Chaos was the first thought that crossed Sirius Black's mind as he fought his way through the seething mass of people on his way to the train. So many faces, so many nervous new students clutching their trunks with white knuckled hands as they said goodbye to their parents, the faces of confident upperclassmen who strode purposefully down the rows of cars. Sirius grinned wolfishly. He would teach them to be nervous. Young or old, nervous or not, it made no difference to him. Sirius was a prankster extrodinaire. No one could outwit him, and only one equaled him in impishness. A voice called to him from somewhere up the train.  
  
"Oy, Sirius! Over here mate!" A boy with untidy black hair and wicked brown eyes framed by glasses waved at him. Sirius grinned. James Potter, his partner in crime. He hurried to reach his friend as the last warning whistle of the Hogwarts Express resounded through the station. Hogwarts at last. Sirius' nerves tingled as he thought of the old castle. He and James would take the school by storm; it would never know what hit it. He was so preoccupied with thoughts of pranks that he didn't see the boy who lay on the ground in front of him until he tripped over him. A few Slytherin third years cackled as they raced for the front of the train, kicking the boy they had knocked over on the way. Sirius swore and picked himself off the ground. He could hear James calling him.  
  
"Sirius! Are you okay?" The other boy started to climb down from the train. Sirius motioned for him to stay where he was. James obeyed, leaning back through the window his face full of concern. Sirius reached down to the fallen boy, offering him a hand up. A milk white hand gripped his own and he found himself staring into a pair of glowing amber eyes. Sirius was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of loneliness. He found he could not look away from those eyes. He helped the boy to his feet, never taking his eyes off of him. The boy looked away, as though ashamed.  
  
"Thank you," he murmured softly as he turned to flee. Sirius reached out and caught him by the wrist before he could get away. He opened his mouth to speak, just then a strong pair of hands gripped him by the back of his shirt and he found himself and the boy being hauled into the train as it lurched to a start. He ignored James' rant about almost missing the train and focused on the boy who remained silent. The boy was deathly pale, he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. His hair was light brown and slightly tosseled. He had a fine boned face and supported his slender frame with a sort of effortless grace. But it was his eyes that really held Sirius' attention. They seemed to throw off a soft light from somewhere within them and they were so soulful, so lonely as though the boy could not dampen his emotions through them. Sirius snapped to attention; James' speech was winding to an end.  
  
"…and I know you weren't listening to a word I said. Ah, here we are." James led them to an open compartment and shoved them inside. "Now then," he held out a hand to the boy Sirius had helped. "James Potter, this git here is Sirius Black." The boy smiled and took the offered hand.  
  
"I'm Remus Lupin, pleased to meet you." He turned to Sirius. "I wanted to thank you again for helping me back there, those idiots ran right into me." Sirius started.  
  
"It was nothing really," he was horrified to feel a blush creep up his cheeks. James however was currently engaged in conversation with Remus and didn't pay any attention to Sirius' abnormally quiet state. He tried to tune in to the conversation and before long the three boys were laughing and joking as though they'd known each other their whole lives, which, Sirius noted, he and James had. But as this was a minor detail he chose to ignore it. Voices, then shouting could be heard from the corridor. A crash and the sound of a body being thrown against the wall.  
  
"What the…?" James started for the door. He thrust it open, Sirius and Remus close behind him. Their eyes fell upon two boys about their age standing above a short, somewhat pudgy boy whose small, watery eyes were wide with fright.  
  
"Just what do you think you're doing?" James demanded of them. Sirius winced. Leave it to James to try and reason with a couple of bullies. He stepped forward to stand next to his friend. The taller of the two boys turned to face them, a sneer twisting his sallow face. Sirius noted that his nose was rather large.  
  
"And what are you going to do about it?" The boy taunted. Sirius decided immediately that he didn't like him.  
  
"How about I shove my fist into your abnormally large nose?" He glared. The boy rounded on him.  
  
"Take it back."  
  
"Make me." James grabbed Sirius' jacket to keep him from launching himself at the boy.  
  
"Just who do you think you are anyway? Slimy git…" The boy had had enough. He flew at James, landing a wild punch on his jaw. Sirius snarled and grabbed the boy's hair. They were soon involved in a violent tussle, all else forgotten. Unnoticed, the second boy raised a broken table leg, his captive closed his eyes and covered his face in a feeble attempt to prevent the inevitable. The boy grinned widely as he brought the wood up and whipped it down through the air. CRACK. Sirius, James and the boy with the large nose hurriedly rolled off each other. Sirius looked around. The boy with the wood stood, mouth hanging open staring down at his victim. The small boy gazed with wide eyes. Sirius followed their eyes till his gaze fell across the limp form of Remus Lupin laying across the small boy's legs after taking the blow for him. He gasped and advanced on the assailant blinded by white hot fury. Before he knew what he was doing he had struck the boy with all his might. James grabbed his arm, fighting to hold him back. Sirius growled a string of curse words at the bullies who glared at them before fleeing down the corridor. James slowly let go of Sirius' jacket.  
  
"Sirius…you have to be more careful!"  
  
"Oh and you were? Mr. Let's Try to Reason with a bunch of Mindless Bullies?" He retorted. James simply rolled his eyes and helped the small boy up. Sirius bent down to examine Remus. The small boy, who introduced himself as Peter Pettigrew, said fearfully  
  
"Is he going to be alright?" Sirius tried to force reassurance into his voice.  
  
"I'm sure he'll wake up in a minute or two. Why were those gits after you anyway?" Peter shrugged.  
  
"Don't need a reason do they? I mean, people never seem to miss a chance to pick on you." Both Sirius and James glanced up, surprised at the note of bitterness in Peter's voice. Sirius felt a twinge of pity for the boy. Just then Remus let out a soft moan and stirred. Sirius quickly drew his attention back to Remus' now moving form which lay across his lap. James knelt beside him.  
  
"You okay Remus? " Remus opened his eyes slowly. He winced.  
  
"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, that's all." Sirius noticed how dark the shadows under Remus' eyes were. He looked so tired. His long lashes cast long lines across his face. Sirius shook himself.  
  
"What'd you have to go and take that blow for?" He realized too late that Peter was standing just behind him. "Sorry, Peter…" he lamented. The other boy smiled and waved his hand, a wistful look in his eyes. Remus' lids flickered shut again. He shifted so his head was tucked into the crook of Sirius' arm.  
  
"I wanted to help," he murmured sleepily. James shook him slightly. He looked up at Sirius, worried.  
  
"I think he may have a concussion, don't let him fall asleep." Sirius nodded. Peter rushed off to find a nurse. James ran down the corridor in the opposite direction to try and find someone. Things could have been worse. Sirius thought a few hours later as the Hogwarts express pulled into the Hogsmede station. The train's onboard nurse had repaired the damage to Remus' head with a flick of her wand. The boy was now fully awake and gazing anxiously at Hogwarts with the rest. Sirius saw something akin to fear flicker in Remus' eyes. Before he had the chance to question the boy James had dragged him off the train and into ensuing madness. Sirius, James and Remus made their way to a fleet of small boats on the edge of a fathoms deep, black lake. Peter, small as he was, had latched himself onto James' robes in a desperate attempt to prevent himself from becoming lost in the crowd. The four of them clamored into one of the waiting boats and watched in fascination as the castle of Hogwarts loomed ever closer before them.  
  
"I hope we're all in the same house," Peter piped in the growing silence. The other three nodded wordlessly. A tall, rather severe looking woman with black hair and square-shaped glasses met them at the door to the Great Hall. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and led them forward for the Sorting Ceremony. Sirius vaguely remembered hearing about the ritual from his father. His stomach lurched with nerves, however, and put an end to any more pondering. James, standing beside him was looking rather green. Sirius would have found this comical if he hadn't felt so ill himself. He caught sight of a battered and frayed wizard's hat sitting on a three legged stool at the front of the Hall. It was obviously magicked; it began to sing. Sirius ignored the hat and focused on Remus. He watched the boy out of the corner of his eye. Remus was so pale. Sirius felt a swell of anger inside him at the boys who had hurt Remus on the train. He was startled out of his thoughts at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice  
  
"Black, Sirius." He swallowed quickly and walked up to the three legged stool, the last thing he saw before the hat covered his eyes was James and Remus watching him anxiously. It wasn't long before the Sorting Hat shouted the word "Gryffindor" to the hall, and before Sirius knew it he was sitting at his new house's table, crossing his fingers and waiting for his friends to be sorted. All too soon it was Remus' turn.  
  
"Gryffindor!" Remus walked back to the table and collapsed next to Sirius grinning. Peter joined them, and then James. The four were happily congratulating each other and not paying much attention to the sorting, then Sirius heard James' dry voice  
  
"Oh look, it's our dear friend." They looked up to see the boy they had fought on the train stepping up to the Sorting Hat as McGongall called his name  
  
"Snape, Severus!" Sirius' eyes narrowed. This boy would pay. 


	2. Getting Aquainted with Trouble

Disclaimer: All characters are property of JK Rowling. As much as I love the Marauders they do not belong to me.  
  
Author's Note: Hello all. No one is reading my fic! [idly cries] Why aren't you reading and reviewing? It's not bad! Tonikaku, here's the second chapter. I'm really enjoying writing this.  
  
  
  
"Remus! James! Wait up!" Sirius called, sprinting down the corridor. They had been at Hogwarts for a week, and now that Sirius had become more familiar with the terrain, he was determined to start causing his favorite thing: mischief. Remus grinned at him.  
  
"What is it?" Sirius' answering smile was wide, glee from his intentions sparkling in his eyes. James backed away.  
  
"Oh no. Don't encourage him Remus! I know that look in your eye, Sirius. You're planning something!" Sirius' grin broadened.  
  
"Who, me?" He asked innocently. "I wasn't going to do anything…"  
  
"Permanently damaging," James finished with a laugh. "All right old boy, what is it? I admit, you have even my curiosity peaked."  
  
"Yes Sirius, don't keep us in the dark." Sirius opened his mouth to speak and then stopped. Swooping down on a small figure heading in the opposite direction, he grabbed Peter and hauled him along with them.  
  
"Oy, Peter, you're going the wrong way. Here, walk with us, we're going to get revenge." His eyes glinted. Peter looked nervous, and incredibly uncomfortable.  
  
"Re..revenge?" he stuttered. "On whom?" Sirius grin became so wide that Peter backed away in fear. Sirius resembled a large predatory animal who had just cornered his prey. Remus and James just grinned knowingly.  
  
"Oh I don't know," James drawled. "Could it be a certain greasy haired, long-nosed slimy git we happen to have run into?"  
  
"Oh no! Not Severus Snape! We couldn't!" Remus wailed in mock horror. Sirius was overjoyed. The quiet boy had begun to open up to them over the past week. He enjoyed seeing Remus come out of his shell. He also enjoyed the true look of horror on Peter's face. He decided to play this one up for all it was worth. Placing his hand over his heart he raised his eyes to the ceiling.  
  
"Me? Want to hurt Snape? Oh no, I wouldn't dream of hurting him. I just dream of pounding his slimy face into the ground a million times over, tearing him to pieces, jumping on them and then scattering the bits to the wind. Why hurt him when I could kill him?" His look of wistful reverie was ruined when James elbowed him in the side.  
  
"Enough with the dramatics Sirius! Tell us the plan!" Here came the hard part. Sirius technically hadn't worked out all the details in his plan of torturing Snape. All he had done, really, was decide that he wanted to see the ugly git punished for what he and his friend had done to Remus and Peter. He couldn't believe the nerve they had, singling out Peter for no other reason besides his being smaller than they. They had no right to believe that they could go around pounding the tar out of everyone they damn well pleased. He wouldn't let them. And Remus…he sucked in his breath. What had happened to Remus still made his blood boil white hot in his veins. All Remus had done was selflessly put himself between Peter and his tormentors. And look what had happened to him. The others were clearly waiting for Sirius to say something, anything, so he grasped the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
"We-ell…" he began, drawing the word out. Remus and James lunged at him. "Okay okay! I'll tell you, just don't kill me!" He cried, clasping his hands together. James looked at Remus. Remus looked at James. They both looked at Sirius. The next thing Sirius knew, his friends had pounced and were tickling him mercilessly. Soon though, James lost his glasses and couldn't seem to see Sirius. Sirius took this opportunity to slide away from him, putting Remus between himself and James. Soon Remus was laughing as hard as Sirius was.  
  
"Stop it James! I'm not Sirius! That's Sirius!" Eventually all three boys ended up involved in an enthusiastic war, and no one cared who was attacking who. Peter looked on apprehensively, frequently glancing down the hall to see if they were going to be late to class. Suddenly a shadow loomed overhead. Peter squeaked and ran down the hall. Remus, Sirius and James looked up, still laughing, into the stern glare of Professor Minerva McGonagall, transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor house.  
  
Professor McGonagall surveyed the scene before her. Her eyes strayed over the three laughing students, gaze lingering for a few moments on each of them as one by one, they stopped laughing. James and Sirius still sported wide grins, but Remus had grown quiet, though the laughter still shown quietly in his eyes. Remus may have emerged from his shell among his friends, but to the rest of the world he remained shy, quiet, and reserved. Thus it was James and Sirius who took charge of the situation. James put on a perfectly charming smile.  
  
"Why good morning Professor! Have I mentioned yet just how much I enjoyed yesterday's lesson?" Sirius caught on immediately.  
  
"Yes, turning matches into needles. So fascinating and useful outside of class. Why I remember just the other day when my robes ripped and I thought-" James elbowed him before he could get too outrageous. Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Thank you, Mr.Black, Mr.Potter, I'm sure I'll appreciate you views. However, they do not address the current issue of why you three gentlemen," and here she paused to pierce them once more with her stern stare. "Are sprawled on the floor in the middle of the corridor instead of taking notes and being educated in your History of Magic class." Sirius and James started.  
  
"Well we were…"  
  
"That is to say…"  
  
"Excuse me, Professor," a quiet voice began. "They were merely assisting me."  
  
"You Mr.Lupin? And what, pray tell, were you doing?" Remus' face was pale and set.  
  
"Well Professor, I was feeling rather off color, you know, and I fell. Sirius and James tried to stop me from falling, but we all ended up on the floor. Please Professor, don't punish them for trying to help me." Remus' voice was so sincere that McGonagall couldn't stop herself from smiling slightly.  
  
"Very well, Mr.Lupin. You, Mr.Black, and Mr.Potter will escape punishment from me." A cheer went up from James and Sirius. "However, my saving you this time will not thwart any punishment Professor Binns may bestow upon you for being late to his class."  
  
"Thank you Ma'am!" Sirius saluted dramatically. Professor McGonagall attempted to look stern and failed.  
  
"Now get to class before I reconsider." The three boys scampered off down the hall. McGonagall watched their retreating backs with a slight smile on her lips. These three would bear watching. It was going to be an interesting year. Seven, provided they didn't get expelled.  
  
Remus had saved them from McGonagall, but in the midst of making their outrageous and rather inventive excuses, James and Sirius got into one of their play-fights. As a result, Binns had given the three detention to be served in the library that evening.  
  
"That slimy git," Sirius complained loudly at dinner. Remus looked up from his soup and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.  
  
"Who Binns?" I didn't think he was that bad." Sirius shook his head energetically.  
  
"No, Snape!" James, Remus and Peter stopped eating to stare at him.  
  
"Sirius," James asked. "What does Snape have to do with this?" Sirius looked mildly surprised.  
  
"Well if we hadn't been busy plotting his demise we wouldn't have been caught by McGonagall and would have been on time to Binns." Remus and James laughed and returned to their dinner, but Peter looked troubled.  
  
"Hey you guys, I don't think you should be fighting with Snape. I mean haven't you gotten into a lot of trouble already? And I heard Snape knows a lot of curses…" He trailed off. "Are you really going to get revenge on him?" The other three looked up, grinned and said simultaneously;  
  
"YES!"  
  
"You know Peter, getting in trouble, or the potential to get in trouble is half the fun of causing it in the first place. It's a risk you have to be willing to take." James informed him. Remus lamented at the miserable expression on Peter's face.  
  
"Don't worry about us Peter," he said comfortingly. "We know what we're doing. Well," he reconsidered. "James and I do." He grinned wolfishly as Sirius pounced. What resulted was perhaps the greatest food fight in Hogwarts history. When the dust (or pudding) cleared, Remus, Sirius and James were long gone, whistling as they walked to their detention.  
  
An hour later, Sirius stood in front of a shelf of jinxes and hexes, dusting the books a bit more carefully than he ordinarily would have. Madam Pince had foolishly left them alone, assuming they couldn't get into much trouble dusting books. She obviously didn't know Sirius Black and James Potter. No matter. Sirius grinned to himself. She would learn. In the meantime, he grinned broader, he had found the perfect revenge on Snape. He dusted a few more volumes, simply to draw out the time and calm his excitement. He wanted to appear nonchalant when he told James and Remus so they didn't suspect that he had just thought of his revenge. A few feet behind him Remus stood quietly dusting off volumes in the Magical Creatures section of the library. His amber eyes flickered over the titles, momentarily filling with pain at one. What had he been doing here? He was becoming friends with normal people. He was letting himself become close to others. And that was dangerous. But Remus couldn't turn back now if he had wanted to. For the first time in his life he had friends, real friends, who weren't afraid of him. He couldn't bear the thought of losing them, lived in constant fear of someone finding out his horrible secret. Remus was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't hear anyone approaching him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Remus jumped two feet in the air.  
  
"Sirius!" He whispered fiercely. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" Sirius looked sheepish.  
  
"Sorry Remus." Sirius said apologetically. "Where'd James disappear to?" Remus looked around startled.  
  
"Wasn't he here just a second ago?" Both boys looked around anxiously. "You don't suppose something happened to him do you?"  
  
"What could possibly happen to him in a library? Oh wait, I forgot, this is James we're talk—" Sirius was cut off abruptly as a large book hit him on the head. "Ow!" He whirled around to face his attacker, only to find himself staring at laughing air. Sirius was just wondering whether the Hogwarts library was haunted when he caught himself. He knew that laugh. "JAMES POTTER WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'LL—" Remus clamped a hand over Sirius' mouth. He looked at James' head, which had recently appeared floating in mid air, bemusedly. Struggling to keep his hand over Sirius' mouth he managed to strike up a conversation with James.  
  
"James, how long have you had that invisibility cloak and when were you going to tell us about it?" James grinned under his two friends' expressions. Sirius glared at him in rage.  
  
"Oh, my da gave it to me for my eleventh birthday and I figured we could use it." Remus looked at James and shook his head.  
  
"Can you behave now?" He asked Sirius, who was rapidly running out of air. Sirius nodded meekly. Remus took his hand away from Sirius' mouth cautiously, fearing another outburst. Sirius however, was happily picturing various slimy things he could sneak into James' bed to get back at him.  
  
"Okay, now that James is done with his little bit of showing off," and here James whacked him in the head again. "I have come up with the perfect plan for revenge on Snape." Sirius' eyes glittered. "Let's give him a little douse of what we went through today." He grinned savagely and held up the curse book he'd been reading, pointing to a spell. James and Remus leaned closer and read:  
  
The Tickling Curse  
  
Identical evil grins split the faces of all three boys. This was going to be one heck of a year. 


End file.
